Power-operated portable wrench



June 26, 1951 H. H. WOODMANSEE POWER OPERATED PORTABLE WRENCH Filed Aug. 8, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet l 47 /3 l 2/ 46 49 /4 h 9 ag I 5 24 l7 l8 9 7 Fig.

36 n 1 Ill 5 f\ \aciy/ 35 4 23 Fig. 3. 26

Inventor Herbert H. Woodmansee y a Attorneys June 26,1951 H. H. WOODMANSEE POWER OPERATED POBTABLE WRENCH 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 8, 1947 Inventor Herbert H. W0 odmansee Patented June 26, 1951 POWER-OPERATED PORTABLE WRENCH Herbert H. Woodmansee, Bruce, Wis, assignor of fifty-one per cent to Ralph D. Jenkins, Bruce,

Wis.

Application August 8, 1947, Serial No. 767,411

1 Claim. 1

The present invention relates to new and useful improvements in power operated wrenches and more particularly to a portable wrench by means of which the tool may be easily moved into a desired position without requiring any manual lifting effort.

An important object of the present invention is to provide a power operated wrench which includes a driven head having means for attaching a conventional wrench socket thereto and which may be held in a desired angularly adjusted position for tightening or loosening nuts on the vehicle bodies or in other inaccess'ible places without requiring the mechanic to crawl under the vehicle.

A further object of the invention is to provide a hand truck on which the prime mover or other power unit may be supported and including friction drive means between the prime mover and the driven head to prevent injury to the mechanism by the resistance of the work subjected thereto.

A further object is to provide a power wrench of this character of simple and practical construction, which is efiicient and reliable in operation, relatively inexpensive to manufacture and otherwise well adapted for the purposes for which the same is intended.

Other objects and advantages reside in the details: of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view.

Figure 2 is a top plan view.

Figure 3 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view of the adjustable power head.

Figure 4 is a similar view showing the power head locked to the drive shaft.

Figure 5 is a top plan view of the power head showing the supporting ring for holding a universal socket wrench extension in adjusted position.

Figure 6 is a side elevational View thereof.

Figure 7 is an enlarged fragmentary longitudinal sectional View of a modified locking means for the power head.

Figure 8 is an enlarged transverse sectional view taken on the line 8--8 of Figure 7; and

Figure 9 is a fragmentary side elevational View of the handle for the truck equipped with a gauge for measuring the resistance of a nut engaged by the wrench.

Referring now to the drawings in detail and first with respect to the form of invention illustrated in Figures 1 to 6 inclusive the numeral 5 designates a two wheeled truck including a platform 6 supported on a pair of swivelly' mounted caster wheels 7, the platform having a pair of upwardly and rearwardly extending handles 8 suitably attached thereto.

A chain and gear housing 9 is suitably supported in an upright position at the front end of the platform 6 and to the upper portion of which is secured a conventional transmission housing ID with forward and reverse gears (not shown) mounted therein and controlled by a gear shift lever l I. The transmission includes a fluid drive unit [2 of conventional construction at the rear end of the transmission, the unit I2 being driven by a pulley l3 and belt [4 from a pulley l5 secured to the shaft I6 of an electric motor I! mounted on the platform 6.

The motor I! is pivoted adjacent its front end on a hinge l8 and projecting rearwardly from the transmission housing I0 is :a bracket I9 overlying the rear of the motor I! and having a coil spring 20 positioned therebetween, the spring 20 and hinge [8 for the motor cooperating to tighten the belt M.

A conventional chain and sprocket 21 in the housing 9 is driven by the transmission and a shaft housing 22 projects forwardly from the the chain and gear housing 9 with a drive shaft 23 journaled therein and driven by the chain 2|.

A gear housing or power head 24 is provided with a rearwardly extending sleeve 25 which telescopes over the front end of the shaft housing 22 and is rotatably mounted thereon. The sleeve 25 is provided with a plurality of teeth 26 between which one end of a bolt 21 is selectively received, the bolt being slidably mounted in a housing 28 at the front end of the shaft housing 22, the housing 28 being formed with a longitudinally extending slot 29 in which a handle 30 for the bolt is positioned.

The sleeve 25 is clamped to the shaft housing 22 by a pair of spaced parallel ears :3! having a clamping bolt 32 threaded thereto. A beveled gear 33 is secured to the front end of the shaft 23 in the power head or housing 24 and engages a similar gear 34 journaled in one wall of the housing and provided with a socket 35 in which one end of a driven shaft 36 is removably splined. The shaft 36 is journaled in a bearing assembly 31 in one wall of the housing 24 and projects outwardly therefrom and squared at its outer end as shown at 38 to receive one end of a socket wrench extension 39 formed of inner and outer sections 40 and 4| connected to each other and to the shaft 36 by universal joints 42 and 43, the outer end of the extension 39 being provided with a conventional wrench socket (not shown) for engaging a nut.

A plurality of sockets 44 are suitably secured to the upper sides of housing 24 and in which rods 45 are supported, the upper ends of the rods having a ring 46 welded or otherwise suitably secured thereto. Vertically extending pins 41 extend upwardly from the ring 46 at circumferentially spaced intervals thereof and between which the? inner section 40 of the wrench extension 39 is supported in an angularly adjusted position as shown in Figure 6 of the drawings.

An extension cord 48 leads from the motor I! along the handles 8 and is controlled by a switch 49 attached to the rear portion of the handles.

In the operation of the device the truck is wheeled into a position under a truck body to be repaired and the power head 24 is adjusted to engage the socket wrench extension 39 with a nut to be removed or tightened. The motor I! is then energized to drive the shaft 23 through the transmission 19 and belt and pulleys i 3, I4 and I5 whereupon the shaft 36 will be rotated to thus operate the socket wrench extension 39 attached thereto.

In Figures 7 and 8 of the drawings I have illustrated a modified locking device for the power head 50 and which comprises a lever 5| pivoted at one end to the shaft housing 52, the lever being formed with a laterally extending lug 53 engageable between the teeth 54 carried by the sleeve 55 of the power head.

In Figure. 9 an electrical measuring unit for indicating the tension of the nut engaged by the wrench is shown attached to the handles 8 and comprises a conventional ammeter 59 connected in the electric cord for the motor to register the resistance of the nut.

rotation by means of a screw or stud bolt 6| threaded through the rear of the power head 24 into the gear 33, whereupon the wrench may be used independently of the motor I! for loosening or tightening a nut by manual force by swinging the truck horizontally about the axis of shaft 36 which thereby turns shaft 36 with great leverage to loosen particularly tight nuts.

In view of the foregoing description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings it is believed that a clear understanding of the device will be quite apparent to those skilled in this art. A more detailed description is accordingly deemed unnecessary.

It is to be understood, however, that even though there is herein shown and described a preferred embodiment of the invention the same is susceptible to certain changes fully comprehended by the spirit of the invention as herein described and the scope of the appended claim.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is: v

In a power operated wrench, a power' head adapted for driving a jointed socket wrench extension, and an annular support for the extension carried by the power head and including a plurality of upstanding circumferentially spaced pins holding the upper end of the extension in an angularly adjusted position on the power head. HERBERT H. WOODMANSEE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

